Tag: Holidays

Do You Travel on Holidays? Keep Your Home Safe!

In all of your packing and planning for an upcoming trip, don’t overlook the security of your home while you’re away. Keep your home safe while on vacation with these helpful tips and precuations to take before you leave.

The best way to ensure your house is safe and secure while you are gone is to have someone you trust come to stay in it while you’re away. This is also the best case scenario if you have pets or even plants that need to be tended to while you’re away. Your first and most welcomed answer would be to invite a trusted friend or relative to stay. If you don’t know of anyone willing or able to handle this task, hire a house sitting or pet sitting service, but make sure they are insured and trustworthy.

Hold The Mail

When you’re leaving for longer than a day or so, contact your local post office to have your mail delivery stopped. Put your mail on hold from three to up to 30 days at a time. A mail hold can usually be done online within just a few minutes. It is a free service of the United States Postal Service USPS. You will need to enter your name, address and stop and start dates along with whether you want your mail delivered to your home on the final day of the hold or you prefer to pick it up at the post office.

Newspapers

There is nothing that alerts a would-be crook faster than having a pile of newspapers accumulating on your yard or driveway. If the paper being delivered is a service you pay for, contact them to have it held or temporarily stopped while you are away. If it is a free, local newspaper being tossed into your yard, ask a neighbor or a trusted friend or family member to stop by and pick them up and keep them until you are able to pick them up. While they are there picking up the newspapers, ask if they will also check your door for unexpected sales fliers or other deliveries.

Lights On

A dark house is a red flag that no one is home. Put your lights or even additional electronics like a radio or television, on a timer to have them go on or off at random times throughout the day and night. If a burglar approaches your home thinking it is empty and hears the sound of a radio or TV, it will make them think twice and wonder if someone is actually inside.

Mow The Grass

If you are gone during the summer, have someone come by to keep your lawn mowed and landscaping watered or weeded. If it is during the winter, have someone monitoring your walk and driveway for snow to be ready to shovel it if necessary.

Lock Doors and Garage

It may sound obvious, but you may be surprised how many people leave without thinking about using the locks they have in place. This is especially true for locks they don’t normally use, like a deadbolt on a kitchen door entry, a pet door, or forgetting to close the blinds on a window. Also, make sure you lock, or at best turn off your overhead remote on, your garage especially if you have a universal remote or a remote that is programmed into a car you may be parking long term at an airport.

Social Media Alert

Refrain from announcing on social media the exact dates and times and location of your vacation. Don’t check into locations while you are away to alert everyone of exactly where you are and making it known that you are not at home. You can always wait and post pictures after you return home or delay them to throw off the dates and times. If you are a blogger, don’t blog in real time letting everyone know you’re not home. If you park your car at an airport or long-term parking and have a GPS on board, keep it out of the line of vision for someone parking or looking into your vehicle, or if it is built into the car, reset it so your home cannot be easily located.

Install Security System

Install additional security systems, or take extra steps to secure your home even if it’s just making sure an exterior light is on a timer or motion detection.